Like many in racing, Trent Edmonds is going to miss the ‘old’ Moonee Valley, but he’s not upset at the timing of its reconfiguration.
The Moonee Valley Racing Club will this Saturday host its first Cox Plate meeting away from ‘The Valley’ and Edmonds will be at Flemington with the star of his Pakenham stable, Extragalactic.
The classy mare will run in the $300,000 Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1200m).
It will be her third run for the campaign, each coming in a race normally run at Moonee Valley.
The four-year-old’s only start at the tight Moonee Ponds circuit came at the farewell meeting on Cox Plate Day last year, when she finished ninth of 12 in the Listed Crockett Stakes (1200m).
“She’s a different horse from 12 months ago, but the day that she ran at The Valley in the Crockett on Cox Plate day last year, she didn’t quite get around it that well,” Edmonds said.
“So I’m not complaining about the about the races not being there this year.
“I’m sure once it’s reconfigured and we’re back there, she’ll race there at some stage, but she’s going to butter up at Flemington on Saturday and she’s in good form.”
The Crockett Stakes is one of only two unplaced runs from nine starts for Extragalactic, the other being her fourth placing in the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at Sandown to start this campaign.
Her only start since was a second placing to Jimmysstar in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Edmonds is happy that McEwen Stakes has been scheduled for Flemington as it will give her a look at the straight and serves as an audition to bigger races at the same venue.
“It is an audition for possibly the Champions Sprint, or even the Lightning or Newmarket in the autumn.
“I wanted to give her a look down there for the future basically.
“It’ll be interesting, we’re obviously hopeful she’ll handle it, but there’s only one way we’re going to find out.
“Not that it’s dead straight, but she’s done a lot of work up the back at the turf club here (Pakenham) on what we call the rise track, which is like a dog leg and then straight for sort of 900 metres.
“We’ve done a little bit of work with her up there since the Manikato, she gets up there well, and I’m very happy with her.”
Extragalactic is one of 14 entries for the McEwen Stakes, with Jigsaw, Splash Back, Mazu, Rey Magnerio and Smooth Chino among his potential rivals.
